Driving mechanism.



G. A., KING.

DRIVING MECHANISM.

AFPLlcATloN m2o Nov.16. |915.

Patented Apr. 3, 1917.

narran sacar DRIVING MECHANISIVI.

Specification of Letters Patent.

ratentea am. e, reir.

Application iled November 16v, 1915. Serial No. 61,810.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I GEORGE A. KING, a citizen of the United States,residing at Maple Falls, in the county of Whatcom and StateofWashington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in DrivingMechanism g. and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in propelling andr'guiding means for vehicles andprimarily for use in connection with avehicle adapted to carry breaking or other forms of` plows, and myprime; obj ect is to provide means for turning thevehicle in a verysmallradius.

A` further, object is to provide means for. applying,` the power in.such manner as-to propel thevehicle forwardly or rearwardly.

A further object is to provide means for rotating the forward axle toguide the vehicle.

And a further object` is to provide means for` applying power to bothaxles of the vehiclesimultaneously or to the forward axle singly.

Other objects and advantages will be hereinafter set forth andmoreparticularly pointed outv in the accompanying specification.

In the accompanying drawings which are made a part of this application.

Figure 1 is a detail sectional view as seen on line 1,-1 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view as seen online 2-2 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 isa detail top plan view ofithe pro` peiling an'd guidingmechanism.

Referring to the drawings in which similar reference numerals designatecorresponding parts throughout the several' views, 1 and-2 indicate thefront and rear supporting wheels respectively for the vehicle which aremounted upon axles 3 and 4 respectively, each axle. being preferablysurrounded by a tubular casing 5- and 6, the casing 5 beingwprovided`with an upwardly extending, yoke 7, while the. casing 6 is providedwith a horizontally extending yoke 8.

Connected to the yoke 8 at its longitudinal center is asleeve 9 through-which extends a shaftllO, the rear end of the shaft having agear'llwhich meshes with asimilar gear 12 on the rear axle.4,rwhile to ltheforward end of the shaft 10 is movably secured a gear 13fwhich mesheswith a similar gear 14 carried bv a vertically extending shaft 15.

Mounted upon anelongated collar 16 surrounding the inner end of theshaft 10 is a platform 17 which is adapted to form a support for anysuitable form of combustion engine (not shown) and also for the driver,

av gear 18 beingl mounted upon a shaft 19 to receive the power from themotor, the ends of the shaft 19being rotatably mounted in av yoke 20.

The shaft 19 has attached thereto a gear 24 which meshes with anelongated pinion 25 carried by a shaft 26, said shaft being adjustablymounted in the upper ends of the yoke 20, said yoke being supported byan arm 27 extending from the sleeve 28 surrounding the shaft 15, and inview of the elongatedpinion 25, the shaft may be moved a suitabledistance longitudinally in either direction without being disengagedfrom the geary 24.

The sha-ft 26 has attached thereto beveled gears 29 and 30 which areadapted to mesh with the opposite edges of a bevel gear 31 carried by ahorizontally extending shaft 32, said-gearsbeing. employed for drivingthe wheels of the vehicle forwardly lor rearwardly.

The shaftv 26 is moved longitudinally to bring, either ofthe gears 29 or30 into mesh with theV gear 31 by pivoting a lever 33 to the yoke 20,one endof the lever engaging between collars 34 on the shaft 26 whichwill permit said shaft to rotate but cause the shaft to movellongitudinally when the lever is rocked on its pivot, the opposite endofthe lever having a latch 35 which coperates with the rack 36 forholding the lever in adjustedposition and by forming a plurality ofnotches inthe rack, both of the gears 29 and'30 may be locked out ofengagement with the gear 31, thus stopping the. propulsion of thevehicle, although the engine may still remain running.

The shaft 32 extends forwardly from the gear3-1 and has a bevel gear 37fixed thereto which meshesr with a similar gear 38 attached to the upperend of the shaft 15 thereby imparting rotating movement to the rearaxle4 so long as the gear 13 lis in mesh with the gear 14, butiwhen it isdesired to disconnect the driving power from the rear n axle, thelever39 is thrown forwardly thereby sliding the gear 13 rearwardly on theshaft 10 and disconnecting the same from the gear 14, a suitable rackand latch 41 being provided for holding the lever 39 1n its adjustedposition.

Y The forward end of the shaft 32 has a piny ion 42 fixed thereto whichmeshes with the pinion 43 fixed to the upper end of a shaft 44, saidshaft extending through a tubular casing 45 carried by the yoke 7, thelower endl of the shaft 44 having a pinion 46 attached thereto whichmeshes with the pin-V ion 47 fixed to the front axle 3, thus impartingrotating movement to said axle when the gear 31 isV rotated.

Attached to the connecting bar of the yoke 7 is a circular rack 48 withwhich meshes a gear 49 carried by a shaft 50, said shaft finding abearing in the extension 51 of the casing 53 carying the shaft 32.

Fixed to the upper end of the shaft 'is a bevel gear 53 with whichmeshes a bevel pinion 54 attached to one end of a steering shaft 55, theopposite end of the steering shaft having a steering-wheel 56 which may.l be readily grasped to operate the steering mechanism.'

When the vehicle is traveling forwardly the power is preferably appliedbetween the front and rear axles by connecting the gear 13 with the gear14 and the Vgear 29 with the gear 31, but whenithe end of the field is Yreached and it is desired to ina-ke a short or abrupt turn, the lever 39is operated to disengage the gear 13 from the gear 14, there-v bydisconnecting the power from the rear axle 4 and by operating the handwheel 56 to throw vthe forward wheels in position at right angles to therear wheels or to a greater extent if desired, the vehicle may be turnedfrom end to end yin a very limited space, thus rendering the deviceparticularly applicable for use in a small plot of ground, although itwill be clearly understood that it can be used equally as well in alarger plot of ground. If it is desired to move the vehicle rearwardly,the latch 35 is disengaged from the rack 36 and the free end of thelever 33 thrown inwardly its full distance which will move the gear 30into engagement with the gear 31, thereby reversing the rotati-on of theaxles 3 and 4 and causing the y L vehicle to travel rearwardly.

When it is desired to stop the movement of the vehicle in eitherdirection without stopping the operation of the engine, the lever 33 maybe swung on its pivot to a point substantially midway between itsextreme movement which will disengage yboth of the gears 29 and 30 fromthe gear 31, thus disconnecting the motor from the driving gears of thevehicle and permitting the vehicle to stand idle while the motor isstill rotating.

It will likewise be seen that by connecting the various casings togetherby couplings, as shown, a very rigid frame construction will be providedand by attaching the platform to the sleeve 16 which is rotatable on theshaft l0 the wheels of the vehicle may pass over objects withoutaffecting the position of the motor with respect to the gear 18.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. A vehicle of the class described, coinprising the combination with apair of axles, wheels connected thereto and gears connected to saidaxles, of a plurality of shafts interposed between said axles,coperating gears carried'by said shafts to impart motion to the gears ofthe axles, an adjustable shaft, a pair of spaced bevel gears carried bysaid shaft, a bevel gear carried by one of the connecting shafts, meansto move the adjustable shaft to engage either of the gears carriedthereby with the gear of the connecting shaft, an elongated pinion onsaid adjustable shaft, and means to impart power from a motor to saidelongated pinion.

2. A vehicle of the class described coniprising the combination with afront and rear axle, supporting wheels on said axle and gears fixed tosaid axle, of a plurality of vertically and horizontally disposed shaftsextending from the front to the rear axle, a plurality of beveled cogsat the meeting ends of said shafts and meshing with each other, means toengage or disengage one set of said beveled cogs whereby power will beconnected to or disconnected from the rear axle, means to apply power tosaid connecting shafts to drive the supporting wheels, and additionalmeans for reversing the movement of said wheels or disconnecting thedriving power from the connecting shaft.

3. A vehicle of the class described, comprising the combination with apair of axles, wheels connected thereto and gears connected to saidaxles, of a plurality of shafts interposed between said axles, coperatnggears carried by said shafts to impart motion to the gears of the axles,an adjustable shaft, a pair of spaced bevel gears carried by said shaft,ya bevel gear carried by one of the connecting shafts, a ratchet leverto move the adjustable shaft to engage either of the gears carriedthereby with the gear of the connecting shaft, an elongated pinion onsaid adjustable shaft and means to impart power from a motor to saidelongated pinion.

4. A vehicle of the class described, comprising the combination with afront and rear axle, supporting wheels on said axle and gears fixed tosaid axle, of a plurality of vertically and horizontally disposed shaftsextending from the front to the rear axle, a plurality of beveled cogsat the meeting ends of said shafts and meshing with each other, a'ratchet lever to move one set of said beveled cogs into and out ofengagement whereby power will be connected to or disconnected from thereary axle, means to apply power to name to this specification in thepresence of said Connecting shafts to drive the supporttwo subscribingwitnesses.

invr wheels, and additional means for reversingP the movement of saidwheels or discon- GEORGE A' KNG' necting the driving power from theconnect- Witnesses: mg shaft. LILLIAN LEHMAN, In testimony whereof Ihave slgned my GEORGE LIVEsEY.

Gopiea of this patent may be obtained for me cents each, by addressing'the Commissioner of Pdtem'to,

u Y Washington, D. C.

